For all my neat freaks and professional house cleaners out there!
We’ve spent the last several years’ house cleaning professionally, and we’ve gathered some knowledge along the way.
Our company's niche focuses on using only eco-friendly products, and as some of you may know, finding good eco-friendly products that get the job done can be a bit of a challenge.
Also, carrying around clunky equipment that breaks down or hardly works can make the average cleaning job a cleaning nightmare.
There are plenty of lists out there floating around, so we figured we’d take a crack at compiling a list of our own favorite ‘tools of the trade’ that we use for you guys in hopes that it helps you along on your cleaning adventure!
What makes an item essential?
Just as it reads, essential means you can’t go without it!
It’s not only helpful but affordable as well!
You feel relieved when you know it’s there!
It does what it is supposed to do!
You’d probably recommend it to your friends unless you are the type who likes to keep their secret weapons a secret!
This Thing Really Sucks!
For a Vacuum, That’s a Good Thing! Item #1
Shark Vacuums are at the top of my list of favorite tools of the trade. Seriously you guys, these things do a great job! They’re not only highly efficient but reasonably priced.
They are easy to carry from job to job, fit into the trunk of a compact car, and you don’t have to have arms like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to lug them around.
We’ve used several of their stick vacuums, but the one I’m partial to (and currently use for all of my services) is the Shark Apex Upright Vacuum with Lift-Away, Duo Clean & Self Cleaning Brush Roll.
Like some of the people you’ve dated in the past, it comes with a bag of attachments!
Seriously though, guys, the attachment features are excellent, and we tend to use them a lot.
The dust attachment is excellent for bookshelves and nick-nacks, and we absolutely can’t live without the pet hair upholstery attachment. It can take a dog/cat hair-covered couch and make it look new in a matter of moments.
Quick Takeaways:
Accelerated suction delivers a more direct airflow for performance.
Lift-Away pod has an extendable hose, great for doing upholstery
Dual-brush roll system for deep-cleaning carpets & polishing floors
Self-cleaning brush roll removes long hair and pet hair with no hair wrap.
Anti-Allergen Complete Seal Technology and a HEPA filter trap dust and allergens inside the vacuum cleaner.
Where can I pick one up?
We purchase most of our products and equipment directly from distributors, so although they are available at Walmarts and Targets, we get ours direct at https://www.sharkclean.com.
You’re getting a fantastic product with an excellent service warranty for the ticket cost.
Floors Galore. Item #2
Mop and buckets for home use are, in our opinion, completely impractical. They’re clunky, making them difficult to maneuver around the house and hard to store. Understandably, if you've got a significant spill, there's no natural substitute besides maybe a wet-dry shop vac.
Another issue found is that they tend to harbor bacteria and need a decent amount of effort to clean them after use.
Don’t know about you, but for us, cleaning something after finishing cleaning just doesn’t jive with me. We want to clean the floors and call it quits for the day.
Have you ever tried using a steam mop? Absolute game changer!
We started using them several years ago, they’ve been a staple in our home and professional cleaning setup.
Many different types are available on the market, ranging from heavy-duty to your average household model, so how do you know which one is best for you?
There are several things to look at when using a steam mop:
Does it have a self-standing feature? Having to lean my mop against things is annoying; a mop that can stand up on its own!
How’s the water tank size? Repeatedly refilling a water tank while in our cleaning flow mode can drag out the process; a decent-sized tank to at least make it through a few rooms.
What's the mop head size? Does it have an attachment piece? Some mop steam mop heads can be tiny and not cover enough ground or awkwardly shaped. We prefer a nice medium-sized rectangle.
Does it require special water? Most steam mops need distilled water to prevent mineral build-up, but some are ok with a plain ol’ tap. We prefer to use distilled water regardless since the tap water in our area is full of calcium and tends to clog up the mop.
Out of all the different steam mops we’ve tried, our favorite is *drum roll, please*:
The Shark Genius S5003D!
That's right, and you'll feel like a genius for choosing it.
It has a hands-free changeable pad, so you don’t have to wrestle with a dirty mop pad. It has a narrow head to fit into those hard-to-reach spots. It also has a steam blaster on the top, so if there’s anything you can’t clean off the floor with a couple of passes, you just flip the mop head and give it a blast of hot steam, and bam, it lifts right up!
Quick Takeaways:
Cleans and sanitizes sealed hard floors
Touch-Free Technology: never touch a dirty pad again
Steam Blaster attacks tough, greasy, stuck-on messes
Electronic steam control provides the right amount of steam for each cleaning task
Spray Pocket mop attaches to Genius head for quick, easy cleanups.
Where can I pick one up?
We like to purchase most of our products and equipment directly from distributors, so although they are available at Walmarts and Targets, We get ours directly from https://www.sharkclean.com
The steam mop saves a ton of time and energy, you guys, so we highly recommend picking one up off amazon to up your house cleaning game.
The Legend of Thieves Cleaning Product! Item #3
Now the name might sound a little “intimidating,” but this product has been taking the conscious community by storm since it first arrived on the market, and its origins date back to the time of the black plague.
Get this:
Legend has it that a band of thieves was robbing the graves of noblemen that died from the terrible black bubonic disease.
They were eventually caught, tried, and given two choices.
One wasn’t so much fun: death!
The other? Confess how they were able to avoid getting sick.
They chose to confess and offered their secret: a concoction of essential oils acquired on the Silk Road.
Young Living claims to be the only company producing Thieves oil in possession of the original formula.
Everything else is a watered-down fake.
The stuff is incredibly safe.
So safe that you can drink the old stuff. Some people enjoy putting it in their water and claim it has health benefits!
It cleans with incredible efficiency, is an antiseptic, and smells like a lovely mix of cloves and citrus. It works great as an all-purpose cleaner and is safe to use on pretty much everything under the sun!
Quick Takeaways:
It’s a safe, natural alternative to cleaners with dangerous synthetics. Safely used around your children, pets, and family, it’s a no-brainer.
It is an essential oil blend of Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary oil.
It’s versatile and can clean nearly every surface in your home — carpets, floors, cabinets, glass, and more.
It has a spicy, vibrant cinnamon aroma that brings feelings of warmth and comfort.
Responsibly sourced for Seed to Seal.
Where can I pick it up?
Click the link on the image or visit https://www.youngliving.com
Thieves oil is by far one of the best eco-friendly products on the market, except no substitutes!
Hard Water? Hardly a Problem. Item #4
Does your home have a ton of calcium or lime in the water system? I know many of our client’s homes do, and if we don’t keep on top of it, everything the water touches gets that lovely spottiness that just doesn’t seem to come off.
We run into the same issue constantly while doing professional home cleaning services. Clients that don’t keep a squeegee in their showers (refer to the last section) end up with that pocky-looking glass, and it can be a nightmare trying to get it off.
We recently discovered a heaven-sent product, and it works on so many different surfaces it’s nothing short of a miracle.
Quick Takeaways:
Removes hard-water stains from almost every surface imaginable
The gentle solution keeps surfaces protected
It saves time and elbow grease
An absolute game changer for professional and personal cleaning
Where can you find it, you ask?
The product is called Bio-Clean. You can order it off their website directly at https://bio-cleanproducts.com or find it on Amazon or at many hardware stores.
We’re not kidding you guys; Bio-clean is the best eco-friendly product we’ve
ever used. We use it on glass, stained tubs, tile, and even to polish metal fixtures. It’s completely eco-friendly, and it works so quickly hardly any elbow grease is required.
Having bio-clean in our kit completely changed our cleaning game. Our home shower always looks pristine, and our customer’s overall satisfaction with our cleaning is top notch!. We can’t recommend them enough! Never clean homes without it!
Scrub-A-Dub-Dub. Item #5
Using bleach-based products is just plain old gross! You can’t stand its smell, and it’s proven to be bad for your health and bad for the environment!
If you need a bleach-free scrub for porcelain, the best eco-friendly product we’ve come by is Bonami! It’s basically like Comet or Bar Keepers friend but far less toxic and safe for the environment.
We keep it handy in our kits at all times, and we lean heavily on it for all our tub and sink scrubbing.
We’ve even used it to get light scratches from a toilet that someone used a wire scrub pad to clean, and it worked like a charm. It restored it to its full porcelain beauty, and our client was over the moon about it!
Quick Takeaways:
Safe to use and highly effective on porcelain and stainless steel surfaces.
Gets scuff marks off of dishes and porcelain.
For the price, nothing is comparable!
This company has been around for 130 years!
Where can I find this miracle scrub?
Once again, we don’t like to use third-party shopping for cleaning items, although you can find them at Target and a few other stores. We like going directly to the source. You can find Bonami at https://www.bonami.com/product/bon-ami-powder-cleanser/
We can’t stress enough how much we love and use this product. It’s so gentle that you don’t even need to use gloves!
Dish Soap, Eco-Friendly Dish Soap Suzanne! Item #6
7th Generation Dish Soap!
This stuff is incredibly versatile. It’s not just suitable for dishes.
Its grease-cutting abilities make it a go-to instead of wasting money on an eco-friendly degreasing product.
Just lather up a dot on a sponge, scrub your stovetop, and watch that puppy shine like there’s no tomorrow.
Use it to tackle gunk-covered countertops and food splashed cupboards in drawers.
Have filthy baseboards around the house?
Put a nickel-sized drop in a cup of warm water with a sponge and use it to scrub them spotless.
A simple wipe down with a clean rag after, and you’re good to go.
Another place in the home where this stuff does an incredible job is the bathroom. Same as with the baseboards, you can use a sponge and a cup of warm water to wash down showers, tubs, countertops, and even toilets.
Another tip: if you want to save the use of your cup for helping rinse things off after you're done sudzing and scrubbing, plug a bathroom sink and fill it with water and soap to use as a stationary bucket.
Pretty nifty and thrifty, right?
Quick Take-Aways:
It’s available almost everywhere you shop!
Dermatologist tested hypoallergenic formula.
0% Fragrances
Entirely plant-based formula.
Where can I pick it up:
https://www.seventhgeneration.com/home
It’s Cheap. It’s Effective. It’s Alcohol. #7
Check it out, people! This one is easy and by far one of the cheapest.
We learned the power of this product while cleaning windows professionally.
Besides dish soap, we always finished detailing windows with Rubbing Alcohol mixed in water.
This simple little solution works great on all kinds of surfaces for disinfecting and shining up glass and mirrors.
A couple of sprays on a mirror and a good wipe down with a microfiber cloth, and you’re in business!
Use it around toilets and showers to kill bacteria and leave my bathrooms nice and sterilized!
Quick Takeaways:
Cut it with water in a spray bottle
Safe on all surfaces around the home!
Potent disinfectant
Great for shining glass and polishing mirrors
There you have it, the Items We LOVE!!!
That sums up my essential list of items that you can’t go without having around. Hopefully, you found this information worthwhile, and you wind up adding some of these fabulous tools to your kit as well!
Please feel free to reach out and comment below! Let us know about any products you love to use or your thoughts on the things I listed in this post. Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed day.
Are you ready to treat yourself and your home to a Holistic Cleaning Service?
We can set you up a phone consultation that is quick and easy.
Do you have more questions about our services and methods?
We’d love to talk with you about how our cleaning services can help give you peace of mind, knowing your home will be cared for by Your Conscious Cleaners.
Sending many blessings,
Your Conscious Cleaners
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